Paid in gold to lose weight in Dubai? Sure, because you can’t walk anywhere

I was listening to the radio the other day to a Dubai expat explaining how the state is paying residents in gold to lose weight. She chirpily said that we ‘drive everywhere, even to the neighbour, as there are no pavements and it’s really hard to walk….’

I have lived in Dubai, and it is hard to walk in all but a few districts, even in the winter when heat is not an issue. The crazily looping fast freeways that slice up Dubai make a car a must-have. And although newer neighbourhoods are finally being planned with narrow shady streets and ‘walkable’ precincts, Dubai needs to realise that its growing obesity problem is planned right into its urban development policy: more malls, hotels and roads. But at least they can say that they are worth their (lost) wight in gold…